McNamara recall puts Davidson on a downer
ST JOHNSTONE boss Callum Davidson admits the recall of on-loan right-back Danny McNamara is a blow to the club’s top-six ambitions.
Saints were one of the Premiership’s form teams after an 11-game unbeaten run almost brought a rare victory at Celtic Park earlier this month.
Since then, however, the Perth side have lost three of their last four — going down 3-0 to league leaders Rangers on Wednesday night.
And the l oss of Republic of Ireland Under- 21 international McNamara in January after the matches against Aberdeen and Hamilton is unlikely to make the restoration of confidence any easier.
A stand-out during 19 performances for the club, Davidson explained: ‘Danny has had a good season here so Millwall want to take him back and give him an opportunity to play there.
‘The reason he came up here was to progress his career and he has performed at a high level.
‘It’s always a danger with loans because they have clauses that mean you can go back if it’s not working out or your club wants you back for doing well.
‘Losing him in January is a bit of a blow for us but we have one or two things in the pipeline.
‘ Hopefully we c an get someone in the door who is just as good as Danny.’
Keen to give McNamara a chance to challenge for the first- team slot at Millwall, manager Gary Rowett is prepared to send 22-year-old defender James Brown north as compensation.
‘ Nothing has happened yet with James,’ reported Davidson, whose side are on a run of five games without a win. ‘ But hopefully we’ll get something sorted.’
McNamara is available for Pittodrie and the midweek home game against Hamilton before leaving the club. Admitting he’ll leave big boots to fill, team-mate Chris Kane said: ‘He’s been absolutely brilliant for us and will be a big loss.
‘I wish Danny all the best and hopefully we can send him off with a couple of wins.
‘He’s a great professional and I’m sure he’ll do really well when he goes back to Millwall.’
Aberdeen boss Derek McInnes opened the door for Davidson’s coaching career when he brought the former Scotland left-back to McDiarmid Park nine years ago.
Davidson went on to be assistant to Tommy Wright at Saints before coaching stints at Stoke City, Dunfermline and Millwall.
Since succeeding Wright in the summer results have been mixed — despite Saints earning a place in the Betfred Cup semi-finals — but McInnes remains convinced his former charge will be a success in Perth over the longer term.
‘I signed Callum as a player but we had a conversation at the time that we could maybe take steps to help him into the coaching side of it,’ revealed McInnes.
‘Callum had a very good career. I am drawn to those types — boys who made the most of what they had. He was always very eager to learn and I felt he was on his path.
‘He has done it a different way. He became a manager after a period of being a coach and an assistant manager and he has got his opportunity at a club he served so well.
‘I have no doubts he will go on and do well. I do think you can see his team are well coached. They have totally changed their shape to how they were under Tommy. Everyone knows their job in and out of possession.
‘He looks like a manager who does his work well Monday to Friday. Results don’t always come — and that’s been the case at times — but if he keeps doing his work he will go on to do very well there.’